Giving Tuesday: Give an acre or give your time

Put your money and tweets to good use and support a campaign to protect land around the world.

Support The Nature Conservancy's "Adopt an Acre" program and help protect the world's most diverse and threatened habitats. (Photos: Spruce forest: dugdax/Shutterstock; Volunteer: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock)

As you dive into the holiday season, don't forget to mark your calendar for Giving Tuesday, a day to put charitable organizations in the limelight and to focus on giving.

This year, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is asking supporters to do something more meaningful with its Giving Tuesday program, which allows participants to give an acre or to give some time.

Since the start of The Nature Conservancy's "Adopt an Acre" program in 1991, the organization has protected more than 600,000 acres of land around the world. That is land that won't be developed — wildlife habitat that will be protected for generations to come. TNC works all over the planet, purchasing land in some of the world's most beautiful and diverse habitats. The coolest part is that you get to decide what type of land or underwater habitat to protect.

Are you a mountain lover? You can adopt an acre of the Northern Rockies, an area that is under intense pressure from human encroachment. Have a zebra fan on your gift list? Give him a gift acre from the Africa savanna to protect key habitats from poaching and unregulated tourism.

Low on funds? You can also support the "Adopt an Acre" campaign by giving of your time — and you don't even have to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. Just use your social media savvy to voice your support for The Nature Conservancy and watch that support take off online on Giving Tuesday. Get more info on how you can give your time via a tweet or Facebook post at the group's Giving Tuesday social media center.